The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed an amendment that increases the penalties for recruiting Taiwanese into cross-border organized crime rings to up to seven years in prison and a potential fine of up to NT$20 million (US$651,423).
The amendment to the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例) was proposed by the Executive Yuan in December last year after a number of overseas-based scam operations were found to have Taiwanese associates.
Currently, luring others into a criminal organization is punishable by a jail sentence of between six months and five years and a potential fine of up to NT$10 million, regardless of whether the crime takes place in Taiwan or overseas.
After the revised law takes effect, if offenders target victims who are under 18, the punishment can be increased by up to half to a maximum of 10-and-a-half years in prison.
The jail sentence of between one and seven years could also be increased by 50 percent if an offender is a civil servant or elected public official, the amendment said.
A newly added article in the law also widened the scope of people subject to forfeiture of assets to include any group that helps a criminal organization with funding or recruitment.
The provision aims to deprive criminal rings of illegal gains.
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